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The Week in Review: ShangPharma Receives Go-Private Offer from Chairman

The Chairman/Founder/CEO of ShangPharma Corporation (NYSE: SHP), together with TPG Capital, made a $58 million offer to take the company private at a price of between $8.50 and $9.50 per ADS (see story). ShangPharma closed at $6.88 per ADS the day before the offer was revealed. The company, one of China’s largest pre-clinical CROs, completed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2010 at $15. It is headquartered in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.

ScinoPharm (TWSE: 1789), the Taiwan-based CMO/CRO, will spend $37.6 million to expand its China operation (see story). The company is building a plant in Tainan Science Park to manufacture high potency cytotoxic compounds that will be used in injectable treatments for cancer. Previously, ScinoPharm specialized in intermediates, APIs and small-batch production of drugs for clinical trials.

Karl Storz, the German medical instruments and device maker, started construction of its China headquarters in Shanghai this week (see story). The new facility, which will be located in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, will cost $31.5 million. It will cover more than 32,000 square feet and include space for an R&D center, logistics, training and after-sales service.

Government and Regulatory

On July 1, Beijing started its first trial of the zero-markup policy for drugs sold by hospital pharmacies, a test taking place at the Beijing Friendship Hospital (see story). The zero-markup policy was one of China’s healthcare reform initiatives. To replace the income, the hospital increased the cost of consulting with a specialist. Company News

Trading in the shares of China Medical Technologies (OTCBB: CMEDY), a diagnostics company, has been halted for two weeks while the SEC determines the truth of the company’s financial statements (see story). Although the company has “gone black,” refusing to communicate with the public or the SEC, its stock price has climbed, soaring through $10 per share, up from $2 before the company’s troubles became known. The SEC wants to see if the company actually has $206.5 million in cash – the ostensible driver behind the stock price – or whether its nearly year-old financial report is fraudulent.